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Publications

2008

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Articles 1 - 30 of 42

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Gravitational Wave Burst Source Direction Estimation Using Time And Amplitude Information, J. Markowitz, M. Zanolin, L. Cadonati, E. Katsavounidis Dec 2008

Gravitational Wave Burst Source Direction Estimation Using Time And Amplitude Information, J. Markowitz, M. Zanolin, L. Cadonati, E. Katsavounidis

Publications

In this article we study two problems that arise when using timing and amplitude estimates from a network of interferometers (IFOs) to evaluate the direction of an incident gravitational wave burst (GWB). First, we discuss an angular bias in the least squares timing-based approach that becomes increasingly relevant for moderate to low signal-to-noise ratios. We show how estimates of the arrival time uncertainties in each detector can be used to correct this bias. We also introduce a stand alone parameter estimation algorithm that can improve the arrival time estimation and provide root-sum-squared strain amplitude (h(rss)) values for each site. In …

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A Three-Dimensional Pattern-Space Representation For Volumetric Arrays, William C. Barott, Paul G. Steffes Dec 2008

A Three-Dimensional Pattern-Space Representation For Volumetric Arrays, William C. Barott, Paul G. Steffes

Publications

A three-dimensional pattern-space representation is presented for volumetric arrays. In this representation, the radiation pattern of an array is formed by the evaluation of the three-dimensional pattern-space on a spherical surface. The scan angle of the array determines the position of this surface within the pattern-space. This pattern-space representation is used in conjunction with a genetic algorithm to minimize the sidelobe levels exhibited by a thinned volumetric array during scanning.

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Magnetohydrodynamic Effects In Propagating Relativistic Jets: Reverse Shock And Magnetic Acceleration, Yosuke Mizuno, Bing Zhang, Bruno Giacomazzo, Ken-Ichi Nishikawa, Phillip E. Hardee, Shigehiro Nagataki, Dieter H. Hartmann Dec 2008

Magnetohydrodynamic Effects In Propagating Relativistic Jets: Reverse Shock And Magnetic Acceleration, Yosuke Mizuno, Bing Zhang, Bruno Giacomazzo, Ken-Ichi Nishikawa, Phillip E. Hardee, Shigehiro Nagataki, Dieter H. Hartmann

Publications

We solve the Riemann problem for the deceleration of an arbitrarily magne-tized relativistic flow injected into a static unmagnetized medium in one dimen-sion. We find that for the same initial Lorentz factor, the reverse shock becomes progressively weaker with increasing magnetization σ (the Poynting-to-kinetic energy flux ratio), and the shock becomes a rarefaction wave when σ exceeds a critical value, σc, defined by the balance between the magnetic pressure in the flow and the thermal pressure in the forward shock. In the rarefaction wave regime, we find that the rarefied region is accelerated to a Lorentz factor that is significantly …

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A Performance And Productivity Study Using Mpi, Titanium, And Fortress, Amy Apon, Chris Bryan, Wesley Emeneker Dec 2008

A Performance And Productivity Study Using Mpi, Titanium, And Fortress, Amy Apon, Chris Bryan, Wesley Emeneker

Publications

The popularity of cluster computing has increased focus on usability, especially in the area of programmability. Languages and libraries that require explicit message passing have been the standard. New languages, designed for cluster computing, are coming to the forefront as a way to simplify parallel programming. Titanium and Fortress are examples of this new class of programming paradigms. This papers presents results from a productivity study of these two newcomers with MPI, the de- facto standard for parallel programming.

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Geocoronal Hydrogen Observations Spanning Three Solar Minima, S. M. Nossal, E. J. Mierkiewicz, F. L. Roesler, L. M. Haffner, R. J. Reynolds, R. C. Woodward Nov 2008

Geocoronal Hydrogen Observations Spanning Three Solar Minima, S. M. Nossal, E. J. Mierkiewicz, F. L. Roesler, L. M. Haffner, R. J. Reynolds, R. C. Woodward

Publications

The 11-year solar cycle is a dominant source of natural variability in the upper atmosphere, and its effect on atomic hydrogen distributions and emissions must be understood to investigate possible signs of longer-term climatic trends in this region. We present midlatitude geocoronal hydrogen Balmer α observations from solar cycle 23 (1997–2006) and three solar minimum periods, 1985, 1997, and 2006. The 1997 through 2006 observations were taken with the Wisconsin H-αMapper Fabry-Perot (WHAM), a ground-based CCD-annular summing instrument that began observations at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona in 1997. The 1985 observations were made with a similarly …

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Multiwavelength Analysis Of The Intriguing Grb 061126: The Reverse Shock Scenario And Magnetization, A. Gomboc, S. Kobayashi, C. Guidorzi, A. Melandri, V. Mangano, B. Sbarufatti, C. G. Mundell, P. Schady, R. J. Smith, A C. Updike, D A. Kann, K Misra, E Rol, A Pozanenko, A J. Castro-Tirado, G C. Anupama, D Bersier, M F. Bode, D Carter, P Curran, A Fruchter, J Graham, Dieter H. Hartmann, M Ibrahimov, A Levan, A Monfardini, C J. Mottram, P T. O'Brien, P Prema, D K. Sahu, I A. Steele, N R. Tanvir, K Wiersema Nov 2008

Multiwavelength Analysis Of The Intriguing Grb 061126: The Reverse Shock Scenario And Magnetization, A. Gomboc, S. Kobayashi, C. Guidorzi, A. Melandri, V. Mangano, B. Sbarufatti, C. G. Mundell, P. Schady, R. J. Smith, A C. Updike, D A. Kann, K Misra, E Rol, A Pozanenko, A J. Castro-Tirado, G C. Anupama, D Bersier, M F. Bode, D Carter, P Curran, A Fruchter, J Graham, Dieter H. Hartmann, M Ibrahimov, A Levan, A Monfardini, C J. Mottram, P T. O'Brien, P Prema, D K. Sahu, I A. Steele, N R. Tanvir, K Wiersema

Publications

We present a detailed study of the prompt and afterglow emission from Swift GRB 061126 using BAT, XRT, UVOT data and multicolor optical imaging from 10 ground-based telescopes. GRB 061126 was a long burst (T90 ¼191 s) with four overlapping peaks in its -ray light curve. The X-ray afterglow, observed from 26 minutes to 20 days after the burst, shows a simple power-law decay with X ¼1:290 Æ0:008. Optical observations presented here cover the time range from 258 s (Faulkes Telescope North) to 15 days (Gemini North) after the burst; the decay rate of the optical afterglow shows a steep-to-shallow …

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Multicolor Conjugated Polymer Dots For Biological Fluorescence Imaging, Changfeng Wu, Barbara Bull, Craig Szymanski, Kenneth Christensen, Jason Mcneill Nov 2008

Multicolor Conjugated Polymer Dots For Biological Fluorescence Imaging, Changfeng Wu, Barbara Bull, Craig Szymanski, Kenneth Christensen, Jason Mcneill

Publications

Highly fluorescent conjugated polymer dots were developed for demanding applications such as fluorescence imaging in live cells. These nanoparticles exhibit small particle diameters, extraordinary fluorescence brightness, and excellent photostability. Single particle fluorescence imaging and kinetic studies indicate much higher emission rates (∼108 s−1) and little or no blinking of the nanoparticles as compared to typical results for single dye molecules and quantum dots. Analysis of single particle photobleaching trajectories reveals excellent photostability—as many as 109 or more photons emitted per nanoparticle prior to irreversible photobleaching. The superior figures of merit of these new fluorescent probes, together …

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Poet: Polarimeters For Energetic Transients, J. E. Hill, M. L. Mcconnell, P. Bloser, J. Legere, J. Macri, J. Ryan, S. Barthelmy, L. Angelini, T. Sakamoto, J K. Black, Dieter H. Hartmann, P Kaaret, B Zhang, K Ioka, T Nakamura, K Toma, R Yamazaki, X Wu Oct 2008

Poet: Polarimeters For Energetic Transients, J. E. Hill, M. L. Mcconnell, P. Bloser, J. Legere, J. Macri, J. Ryan, S. Barthelmy, L. Angelini, T. Sakamoto, J K. Black, Dieter H. Hartmann, P Kaaret, B Zhang, K Ioka, T Nakamura, K Toma, R Yamazaki, X Wu

Publications

POET (Polarimeters for Energetic Transients) is a Small Explorer mission concept proposed to NASA in January 2008. The principal scientific goal of POET is to measure GRB polarization between 2 and 500 keV. The payload consists of two wide FoV instruments: a Low Energy Polarimeter (LEP) capable of polarization measurements in the energy range from 2-15 keV and a high energy polarimeter (Gamma-Ray Polarimeter Experiment – GRAPE) that will measure polarization in the 60-500 keV energy range. Spectra will be measured from 2 keV up to 1 MeV. The POET spacecraft provides a zenith-pointed platform for maximizing the exposure to …

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What A User Wants: Redesigning A Library's Web Site Based On A Card-Sort Analysis, Laura Pope Robbins, Lisa Esposito, Christ Kretz, Michael Aloi Oct 2008

What A User Wants: Redesigning A Library's Web Site Based On A Card-Sort Analysis, Laura Pope Robbins, Lisa Esposito, Christ Kretz, Michael Aloi

Publications

Web site usability concerns anyone with a web site to maintain. Libraries, however, are often the biggest offenders in terms of usability. In our efforts to provide users with everything they need to do research, we often overwhelm them with sites that are confusing in structure, difficult to navigate, and weighed down with jargon. Dowling College Library recently completed a redesign of its web site based upon the concept of usability. For smaller libraries in particular, this can be a challenge. The web site is often maintained by one or two people and finding the time and resources to conduct …

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Neutrino-Nucleus Reaction Cross Sections For Light Element Systhesis In Supernova Explosions, Takashi Yoshida, Toshio Suzuki, Satoshi Chiba, Toshitaka Kajino, Hidekazu Yokomakura, Keiichi Kimura, Akira Takamura, Dieter H. Hartmann Oct 2008

Neutrino-Nucleus Reaction Cross Sections For Light Element Systhesis In Supernova Explosions, Takashi Yoshida, Toshio Suzuki, Satoshi Chiba, Toshitaka Kajino, Hidekazu Yokomakura, Keiichi Kimura, Akira Takamura, Dieter H. Hartmann

Publications

The neutrino-nucleus reaction cross sections of 4He and 12C are evaluated using new shell model Hamiltoni-ans. Branching ratios of various decay channels are calculated to evaluate the yields of Li, Be, and B producedthrough the ν -process in supernova explosions. The new cross sections enhance the yields of7Li and11B pro-duced during the supernova explosion of a 16.2 M⊙star model compared to the case using the conventionalcross sections by about 10%. On the other hand, the yield of10B decreases by a factor of two. The yieldsof6Li,9Be, and the radioactive nucleus10 Be are found at a level of ∼ 10−11M⊙. The temperature …

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A Photometric Redshift Of Z = 1.8{+0.4}{-0.3} For The Agile Grb 080514b, A. Rossi, A. De Ugarte Postigo, P. Ferrero, D. A. Kann, S. Klose, S. Schulze, J. Greiner, P. Schady, R. Filgas, E E. Gonsalves, A Küpcü Yoldaş, T Krühler, G Szokoly, A Yoldas, P.M.J. Afonso, C Clemens, J S. Bloom, D A. Perley, J.P.U. Fynbo, A J. Castro-Tirado, J Gorosabel, P Kubanek, A C. Updike, Dieter H. Hartmann, A Giuliani, S T. Holland, L Hanlon, M Bremer, J French, G Melady, D A. Garcia-Hernandez Oct 2008

A Photometric Redshift Of Z = 1.8{+0.4}{-0.3} For The Agile Grb 080514b, A. Rossi, A. De Ugarte Postigo, P. Ferrero, D. A. Kann, S. Klose, S. Schulze, J. Greiner, P. Schady, R. Filgas, E E. Gonsalves, A Küpcü Yoldaş, T Krühler, G Szokoly, A Yoldas, P.M.J. Afonso, C Clemens, J S. Bloom, D A. Perley, J.P.U. Fynbo, A J. Castro-Tirado, J Gorosabel, P Kubanek, A C. Updike, Dieter H. Hartmann, A Giuliani, S T. Holland, L Hanlon, M Bremer, J French, G Melady, D A. Garcia-Hernandez

Publications

The AGILE gamma-ray burst GRB 080514B is the first detected to have emission above 30 MeV and an optical afterglow. However, no spectroscopic redshift for this burst is known. We report on our ground-based optical/NIR and millimeter follow-up observations of this event at several observatories, including the multi-channel imager GROND on La Silla, supplemented by Swift UVOT and Swift XRT data. The spectral energy distribution (SED) of the optical/NIR afterglow is found to decline sharply bluewards to the UV bands, which can be utilized in estimating the redshift. Fitting the SED from the Swift UVOT uvw2bandto the H band, we …

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Erratum: "Warm Hcn, C2h2, And Co In The Disk Of Gv Tau'', E L. Gibb, K A. Vanbrunt, Sean D. Brittain, T W. Rettig Oct 2008

Erratum: "Warm Hcn, C2h2, And Co In The Disk Of Gv Tau'', E L. Gibb, K A. Vanbrunt, Sean D. Brittain, T W. Rettig

Publications

This is an Erratum for the article 2007 ApJ 660 1572

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The Rapidly Flaring Afterglow Of The Very Bright And Energetic Grb 070125, Adria C. Updike, Josh B. Haislip, Melissa C. Nysewander, Andrew S. Fruchter, D. Alexander Kann, Sylvio Klose, Peter A. Miline, G. Grant Williams, Weikang Zheng, Carl W. Hergenrother Sep 2008

The Rapidly Flaring Afterglow Of The Very Bright And Energetic Grb 070125, Adria C. Updike, Josh B. Haislip, Melissa C. Nysewander, Andrew S. Fruchter, D. Alexander Kann, Sylvio Klose, Peter A. Miline, G. Grant Williams, Weikang Zheng, Carl W. Hergenrother

Publications

We report on multiwavelength observations, ranging from X-ray to radio wave bands, of the IPN-localized gamma-ray burst GRB 070125. Spectroscopic observations reveal the presence of absorption lines due to O i,Si ii,and C iv, implying a likely redshift of z ¼1:547. The well-sampled light curves, in particular from 0.5 to 4 days after the burst, suggest a jet break at 3.7 days, corresponding to a jet opening angle of $7.0, and implying an intrinsic GRB energy in the 1Y10,000 keV band of around E ¼(6:3Y6:9) ; 1051 ergs (based on the fluences measured by the gamma-ray de-tectorsof the IPN).GRB070125 is …

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Electron Density And Electron Neutral Collision Frequency In The Ionosphere Using Plasma Impedance Probe Measurement, E. Spencer, S. Patra, T. Andriyas, C. Swenson, J. Ward, Aroh Barjatya Sep 2008

Electron Density And Electron Neutral Collision Frequency In The Ionosphere Using Plasma Impedance Probe Measurement, E. Spencer, S. Patra, T. Andriyas, C. Swenson, J. Ward, Aroh Barjatya

Publications

Swept Impedance Probe measurements in a sporadic E layer observed during the Sudden Atomic Layer (SAL) sounding rocket mission are analyzed to obtain absolute electron densities and electron neutral collision frequencies accurately. Three sets of upleg and downleg impedance data are selected for the analysis. Initial estimates of the plasma parameters are obtained through a least mean square fit of the measured impedance data against the analytical impedance formula ZB(f ) of Balmain (1969). These initial parameters are used as a starting point to drive a finite difference computational model of an antenna immersed in a plasma called PF-FDTD. The …

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Constraining The Surface Inhomogeneity And Settling Times Of Metals On Accreting White Dwarfs, Michael H. Montgomery, S.E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel Aug 2008

Constraining The Surface Inhomogeneity And Settling Times Of Metals On Accreting White Dwarfs, Michael H. Montgomery, S.E. Thompson, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

Due to the short settling times of metals in DA white dwarf atmospheres, any white dwarfs with photospheric metals must be actively accreting. It is therefore natural to expect that the metals may not be deposited uniformly on the surface of the star. We present calculations showing how the temperature variations associated with white dwarf pulsations lead to an observable diagnostic of the surface metal distribution, and we show what constraints current data sets are able to provide. We also investigate the effect that time-variable accretion has on the metal abundances of different species, and we show how this can …

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A Novel Proof Of The Heine-Borel Theorem, Matthew Macauley, Brian Rabern, Landon Rabern Aug 2008

A Novel Proof Of The Heine-Borel Theorem, Matthew Macauley, Brian Rabern, Landon Rabern

Publications

Every beginning real analysis student learns the classic Heine-Borel theorem, that the interval [0,1] is compact. In this article, we present a proof of this result that doesn't involve the standard techniques such as constructing a sequence and appealing to the completeness of the reals. We put a metric on the space of infinite binary sequences and prove that compactness of this space follows from a simple combinatorial lemma. The Heine-Borel theorem is an immediate corollary.

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Gis Modeling And Mitigation Of Coral Reef Damage, Richard Snow, Mary Snow Jul 2008

Gis Modeling And Mitigation Of Coral Reef Damage, Richard Snow, Mary Snow

Publications

The objective of this study is to demonstrate that an efficient instrument for conducting surveys and inventories of coral reefs to assess those ecosystems at higher risk and develop mitigation strategies is through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Efficient monitoring requires the assessment of various coastal data baselines and the evaluation of subsequent alterations in spatial patterns. While monitoring involves real-time components, among the most powerful tools of a GIS are its modeling capabilities, which allow simulation of various climate change scenarios. Relevant aspects include changes in coastal land use, wetlands, and shoreline configuration. Using Caribbean coral …

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Developing A Coherent Cyberinfrastructure From Local Campus To National Facilities: Challenges And Strategies, Amy Apon, Patrick Dreher, Vijay Agarwala, Stan Ahalt, Guy Almes, Sue Fratkin, Thomas Hauser, Jan Odegard, Jim Pepin, Craig Stewart Jul 2008

Developing A Coherent Cyberinfrastructure From Local Campus To National Facilities: Challenges And Strategies, Amy Apon, Patrick Dreher, Vijay Agarwala, Stan Ahalt, Guy Almes, Sue Fratkin, Thomas Hauser, Jan Odegard, Jim Pepin, Craig Stewart

Publications

A fundamental goal of cyberinfrastructure (CI) is the integration of computing hardware, software, and network technology, along with data, information management, and human resources to advance scholarship and research. Such integration creates opportunities for researchers, educators, and learners to share ideas, expertise, tools, and facilities in new and powerful ways that cannot be realized if each of these components is applied independently. Bridging the gap between the reality of CI today and its potential in the immediate future is critical to building a balanced CI ecosystem that can support future scholarship and research. This report summarizes the observations and recommendations …

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Excitation Of Ducted Gravity Waves In The Lower Thermosphere By Tropospheric Sources, Jonathan B. Snively, Victor P. Pasko Jun 2008

Excitation Of Ducted Gravity Waves In The Lower Thermosphere By Tropospheric Sources, Jonathan B. Snively, Victor P. Pasko

Publications

Short-period, small-scale gravity waves are frequently observed in nighttime airglow imaging experiments. These waves are often found to be ducted and may be confined to a thin region of altitude in the mesosphere or lower thermosphere. An apparent paradox of high-altitude ducted waves is the nature of the source; it is necessary that a ducted wave be excited in situ or have been able to tunnel into the duct from another atmospheric region. In this paper, analytical and numerical solutions are presented for simple thermally ducted gravity waves that are Doppler-shifted by constant background winds. Using a continuous analytical model, …

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Book Review: Guide To Observing Deep-Sky Objects: A Complete Global Resource For Astronomers, T. D. Oswalt Jun 2008

Book Review: Guide To Observing Deep-Sky Objects: A Complete Global Resource For Astronomers, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Guide to Observing Deep-Sky Objects : a Complete Global Resource for Astronomers by Jeff A. Farinacci. Springer, 2007 189p, 9780387728506 $29.95

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The First Mid-Infrared Spectra Of Cool White Dwarfs, Mukremin Kilic, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. May 2008

The First Mid-Infrared Spectra Of Cool White Dwarfs, Mukremin Kilic, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We present the first mid-infrared spectra of two cool white dwarfs obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We also present 3.5–8 μ m photometry for 19 cool white dwarfs with 5000 K ≤Teff ≤ 9000 K. We perform a detailed model atmosphere analysis of these white dwarfs by fitting their UBVRIJHK and Spitzer photometry with state-of-the-art model atmospheres, and demonstrate that the optical and infrared spectral energy distributions of cool white dwarfs are well reproduced by our grid of models. Our mid-infrared photometry and 7.5-14.5 μm spectrum of WD 0018–267 are consistent with a Teff = 5720 …

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An Application Of High Fidelity Ftds For Ab Initio Pilot Training: The Way Ahead, Nickolas D. Macchiarella, Tim Brady, Brandon S. Lyon May 2008

An Application Of High Fidelity Ftds For Ab Initio Pilot Training: The Way Ahead, Nickolas D. Macchiarella, Tim Brady, Brandon S. Lyon

Publications

"Decreases in simulation costs and increases in aircraft training costs led to the need for further investigation into the application of simulation-based training. Researchers conducted an eighteen-month study using ab initio student pilots as participants. This study applied a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved, Part 142, flight-training curriculum that included 60% flight training device (FTD) use. Researchers identified five causal factors that warranted further investigation. The causal factors identified were visual fidelity, procedural similarity, dynamic flight environment, difficulty of task, and visual scanning and response. These causal factors have the potential to affect transfer of training (ToT) from simulated flight …

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Gis Forest Inventory And Evaluation In The Wake Of Climate Change, Mary Snow, Richard K. Snow Apr 2008

Gis Forest Inventory And Evaluation In The Wake Of Climate Change, Mary Snow, Richard K. Snow

Publications

"Because climate and vegetation are so strongly associated, it is assumed that the forecast rapid changes in climate will affect plant distributions and alter the makeup of forest communities. For example, climate change could cause regional wind patterns to shift, which would be accompanied by an increase in wind speed intensity. Such shifts could impact existing rain shadow effects in some regions causing more precipitation on the windward side of mountain ranges while creating even drier conditions on the leeward sides. Fire patterns are likely to be altered as well, which could affect a variety of plant species, even those …

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Capacity Planning Of A Commodity Cluster In An Academic Environment: A Case Study, Linh B. Ngo, Amy W. Apon, Baochuan Lu, Hung Bui, Nathan Hamm, Larry Dowdy, Doug Hoffman, Denny Brewer Apr 2008

Capacity Planning Of A Commodity Cluster In An Academic Environment: A Case Study, Linh B. Ngo, Amy W. Apon, Baochuan Lu, Hung Bui, Nathan Hamm, Larry Dowdy, Doug Hoffman, Denny Brewer

Publications

In this paper, the design of a simulation model for evaluating two alternative supercomputer configurations in an academic environment is presented. The workload is analyzed and modeled, and its effect on the relative performance of both systems is studied. The Integrated Capacity Planning Environment (ICPE) toolkit, developed for commodity cluster capacity planning, is successfully applied to the target environment. The ICPE is a tool for workload modeling, simulation modeling, and what-if analysis. A new characterization strategy is applied to the workload to more accurately model commodity cluster work- loads. Through "what-if" analysis, the sensitivity of the baseline system performance to …

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A New Look At The Local White Dwarf Population, J. B. Holberg, E. M. Sion, Terry D. Oswalt, G. P. Mccook, S. Foran, John P. Subasavage Apr 2008

A New Look At The Local White Dwarf Population, J. B. Holberg, E. M. Sion, Terry D. Oswalt, G. P. Mccook, S. Foran, John P. Subasavage

Publications

We have conducted a detailed new survey of the local population of white dwarfs lying within 20 pc of the Sun. A new revised catalog of local white dwarfs containing 122 entries (126 individual degenerate stars) is presented. This list contains 27 white dwarfs not included in a previous list from 2002, as well as new and recently published trigonometric parallaxes. In several cases new members of the local white dwarf population have come to light through accurate photometric distance estimates. In addition, a suspected new double degenerate system (WD 0423+120) has been identified. The 20 pc sample is currently …

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Book Review: The Road To Galaxy Formation 2nd Ed, T. D. Oswalt Apr 2008

Book Review: The Road To Galaxy Formation 2nd Ed, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of The road to galaxy formation 2nd ed by William C. Keel. Springer/Praxis, 2007 262p, 9783540725343 $99.00.

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The Robotic Super-Lotis Telescope: Results & Future Plans, G. G. Williams, P. A. Milne, H. S. Park, S. D. Barthelmy, Dieter H. Hartmann, A. Updike, K. Hurley Feb 2008

The Robotic Super-Lotis Telescope: Results & Future Plans, G. G. Williams, P. A. Milne, H. S. Park, S. D. Barthelmy, Dieter H. Hartmann, A. Updike, K. Hurley

Publications

We provide an overview of the robotic Super-LOTIS (Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System) telescope and present results from gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations using Super-LOTIS and other Steward Observatory telescopes. The 0.6-m Super-LOTIS telescope is a fully robotic system dedicated to the measurement of prompt and early time optical emission from GRBs. The system began routine operations from its Steward Observatory site atop Kitt Peak in April 2000 and currently operates every clear night. The telescope is instrumented with an optical CCD camera and a four position filter wheel. It is capable of observing Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) error …

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Relativistic Particle-In-Cell Simulation Of Prompt And Early Afterglows From Grbs, K.-I. Nishikawa, P. Hardee, Y. Mizuno, M. Medvedev, B. Zhang, Dieter H. Hartmann, G. J. Fishman Feb 2008

Relativistic Particle-In-Cell Simulation Of Prompt And Early Afterglows From Grbs, K.-I. Nishikawa, P. Hardee, Y. Mizuno, M. Medvedev, B. Zhang, Dieter H. Hartmann, G. J. Fishman

Publications

Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and microquasars commonly exibit power-law emission spectra. Recent PIC simulations of relativistic electro-ion (or electron-positron) jets injected into a stationary medium show that particle acceleration occurs within the downstream jet. In collisionless, relativistic shocks, particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration is due to plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Weibel (filamentation) instability) created in shock region. The simulations show that the Weibel instability in responsible for generating and amplifying highly non-uniform, small-scale magnetic fields. These fields contribute to the …

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Implications Of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Absorption. Ii. Modifications Of Gamma-Ray Spectra, Dieter H. Hartmann, T. M. Kneiske, T. Bretz, K. Mannheim Feb 2008

Implications Of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Absorption. Ii. Modifications Of Gamma-Ray Spectra, Dieter H. Hartmann, T. M. Kneiske, T. Bretz, K. Mannheim

Publications

Bearing on the model for the time-dependent metagalactic radiation field developed in the first paper of this series, we compute the gamma-ray attenuation due to pair production in photon-photon scattering. Emphasis is on the effects of varying the star formation rate and the fraction of UV radiation assumed to escape from the star forming regions, the latter being important mainly for high-redshift sources. Conversely, we investigate how the metagalactic radiation field can be measured from the gamma-ray pair creation cutoff as a function of redshift, the Fazio-Stecker relation. For three observed TeV-blazars (Mkn501, Mkn421, H1426+428) we study the effects of …

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Exist's Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity, D. L. Band, J. E. Grindlay, A. Garson Iii, H. Krawczynski, Dieter H. Hartmann, S. Barthemy, N. Gehrels, G. Skinner Feb 2008

Exist's Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity, D. L. Band, J. E. Grindlay, A. Garson Iii, H. Krawczynski, Dieter H. Hartmann, S. Barthemy, N. Gehrels, G. Skinner

Publications

We use semianalytic techniques to evaluate the burst sensitivity of designs for the EXIST hard X-ray survey mis-sion. Applying these techniques to the mission design proposed for the Beyond Einstein program,we find that with its very large field of view and faint gamma-ray burst detection threshold, EXIST will detect and localize approximately two bursts per day, a large fraction of which may be at high redshift. We estimate that EXIST’s maximum sensitivity will be ~4 times greater than that of Swift’s Burst Alert Telescope. Bursts will be localized to better than 40" at thresh-old, with a burst position as good …

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